LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10019, 15 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A meeting of those who are anxious that Mr J. M. toradine should offer his services to the town in the capacity of Mayor will be held in the Exchange Hall, this evening at S o'clock. A huge attendance is anticipated.

The latest return from the Masteriton Dredge is 28oz 16dwt 20gr lor 137 hours' working, and that from the Mystery Flat 14oz lldwt for 137 hours.

The Government have decided to provide two new copper trunk wires for telegraphic and telephonic communication between Auckland and Wellington as early as practicable.

There are 245 passengers aboard the R.M.S. Atbenic, bound from London to Wellington. Of tbase five are travelling first-class, 31 secondclass, and 209 in the third-class.

A Greymouth correspondent says that private letters received from a former resident of Reef tori,- now^ 'of Los Angeles, California, state that the miners have.to work ten-hour shifts, with naif an hour for crib. They bitterly regret leaving New Zealand.

Addressing the Bench at Inglewood, the Inspector of Noxious Weeds said : "It comes to this, sir; either the farmer or the blackberry is going to own Taranaki. If the berty gets into the,rough,..country, it will take an enormous amount of labour to eradicate it."

The Oberammergau Passion Play, whicn was last produced in 1900, will be seen again in the little Bavarian village this year. The dress rehearsal will be held on May 11th, and the performances will continue at intervals until the end of September.

"Why should there not be municipal racecourses?" asked the Chief Justice before the hearing of a case before the Court of Appeal in Wellington. "'There are municipal theatres, but yet some people object to the theatre as debasing and immoral. The same objections are made to racecourses. Why should both not be treated in the same way?"

(Orders were approved by Cabinet on Monday for the purchase of military equipment to the .extent of £49,000. According to the Prime Minister, the total expenditure on equipment to put the defence scheme upon a good Jworking footing will reach £60,000, while ammunition will require £35,000, and stores and magazines £5,000. The "Timaru Herald" is informed that the Shearers' Union has received definite information that Mr Darcy, who had long been connected with the union, and about whose disappearance at Wellington there was some mystery,, left the Dominion by the Mokoia on her laßt island trip, and that he has gone on to San Fran- I cisco.

Times are changed with rabbiters. It would seem, says the Dunedin "Star," that their lucrative business has fallen intoa rutt of slackness, due to different reasons. The freezing works are curtailing acceptance of supplie3 of twinkle tails, and some owners of land, it is said, have learned that there is money in the bunny pest, and are asking payment of royalty from trappers.

At the Blenheim Supreme Court the other day, when a female witness was being sworn, she was asked to take the glove off her right hand, whereupon, reports the "Express," his Honour said there was a mistaken idea that a woman could not be sworn with a glove on. It was bad enough for the witnesses to have [td kiss the same book, and he hoped that very soon kissing the Book would be abolished. B

The Mayor (Mr P. L. Holliffgs) is confined to his bouse, suffering from an attack of influenza. Mr HoJHngs, who is President of tho y.M.C.A. in Masterton, was unable to preside at the annual meeting held last evening, for the reason mentioned.

Owing to slips occurring in the Manawatu Gorge, yesterday afternoon, the last train to Mastertou from the North did not arrive till about 10.40 p.m. Although the slips were not of a very serious character it was necessary to tranship the passengers in the Gorge.

Passengers on the Wellington-Mas-terton tram, last evening, were interested in a big blaze that could be seen on a property near the Waingawa river. For a time it was thought that a large house was being destroyed, but as the train drew nearer it could be seen that several large stacks were in flames.

The Rarotonga correspondent of the "Auckland Star" writes that bodyburning appears to be on the increase, and is assuming such proportions that the Government and Native Council are framing an ordinance under which the exhuming ana burning of bodies will be a penal offence. It is an old native custom, and <s resorted to by the natives for the purpose of ridding themselves of evil spirits. No less than three cases have been reported to the authorities within the past twelve months, and doubtless many other bodies have been burned secretly.

The long list of Chinese receiving • charitable aid in the Clyde district, Utago coupled with the fact of the extreme age of a number of the recipients, has always be;?n viewed , with a certain amount of suspicion by the local board, says the 'Uunstai Times," the opinson being often expressed that aid was probably being granted to persons no longer in existence. The outcome of a discussion on this subject at Friday's meeting is that a muster of the Chinese recipients is to be made at Cromwell and Alexandra, when the roll will be called over and the list wil be purged of all tailing to answer to their namesand any who appear to be capable of earning their livelihood.

A startling statement was macfei to the Dunedin Hospital Trustees on Friday evening by the resident surgeon J> Falconer, says the "Otago Daily Times.'" He stated that there was at present in the hospital, under special attendance at 24' a day, a patient who had been suffering: from delirium tremens. It had oesn suggested by Mr Galiaway. a late trustee, that the fact of a patient being admitted and treated for delirium tremens in a public hospiliai should be a sufficient condition for that patient's committal to an inebriate reformatory! The patienc referred to would come back again and it was a pity that something u» lhat direction could not be done by Jaw.

The people of Kawhia, even in their isolation, are wideawake and ever on the lank-out..for prominence. Sin".e the conference of the Australaisan authorities, which met in Melbourne last December to formulate ageneral scheme for Hnkinc up NewZealand and Australia with wirel S3 telegraphy the inhabitants of Kawhia \ have formed the opinion that their j township possesses special advantages for such a purpose. The Hon. W. W. McCardle; M.L.C., on baiiaif of thelfpcop!© of SCawhJa t has *i'itten to the Postmaster-General pointing out the relative positions of Kawhia and Sydney. The neeessary electrical power could,, it is stated, be easily developed from two streams in the neighbourhood.

The prolongation of the present - season is giving rise to dscussinn as to whether the dairying season in the Auckland province cannot be continued all the year round, as in New South Wales and 'n Taranaki. It i& admitted that th.3 Auckland province has,equally good a climate for dairying as New South Wales, and an advantage in this respect over Tarana- ' ki, but it is pointed out that Auckland are handicapped in the matter of roads and their inabil- - ity to get the milk to the factories in winter makes dairying a difficult problem in many parts of the province. It is reported, however, that several factories which are favourably situated in the matter of roads, will remain open during the coming winter, and it is hoped that this departure will be the forerunner of a similar movement on a bigger scale in the future.

Mr Edward Newman,M.P., who resided at Kati Kati, in the Bay of Plenty, when the first came out to New Zealand thirty years ago, has been revisiting the district, and gave his impressions to a New Zealand Herald reporter. "One can travel for miles between Tauranga and Rotorua," he said, "without seeing eiter cattle or sheep,and it is not worthless country. Most of it is light land* but it grows clover well.and if cleaned and laid down in suitable grasses would carry stock, especially store cattle. If after reserving land for the native owners to farm, this land were surveyed into suitable areas, and placed on the market on a lease with the right to purchase tenure, in a short time this vast district would become a hive of industry. But no tenure without a right of purchase will secure this settlement and mprovement of much of the second class country. •;' ~

Some facts concerning the proximity of Halley's comet have been given to an Auckland "Herald" representative by Professor A. P. W. Thomas. A few days ago, said the Professor, the comet passed behind the sun, and it now appears to us to be receding from the sun. Every morning; now for some time to come it will rise earlier than the sun, and thus it will be easier to observe. On 19th May it will pgss between the eartb and the sun, ttis being its nearest approach to our globe. Its distance from the earth then has been variously estimated by different astronomers at from ten to f ouiteen million miles. Professur Thomas considers that we in JNew Zealand should be able, to see the comet at any time now, but to see it well wo-jld require very clear atmospheric conditions. The critical time will be on 19th May, when the comet may either be attracted to the sun by that body or else simply swing round and continue on its coarse through space. If the comet hits the sun the former will most probably suffer disruption,, and we might then see portions of it travelling through space.

For the year ending March 31at. 1910s, the membership roll of the Maaterton V. M.C.A. totalled two .hundred and forty-eigh', this number being an increase of one hundred and eight members on the previous year's roll. The subscription list amounted to £lOl 15s, as against £3B for the preceding year. At the annual meeting of the Y.M.C.A., held last evening, special •mention was made in the annual re;port to the splendid work done dur- - ing the past year , by-' the members of the Ladies' Auxuliary in connee--tion with the Strangers' Tea held -'•on Sunday evenings. ' Owing mainly to the excellent re- ; suits arising from the construction of : boom groynes the expenditure, or, river protective Works at the Hutt .'has largely decreased. For instance, the cost of upkeep for the 1909-10 -period wa9 only £250 against £530 ■during 1908-9 period, and £798 for the 1907-8 period. - With reference to a paragraph, . :which appeared in ■ our columns yesterday morning to the effect that Messrs J. Niver. and Co., of Napier, Were the successful tenderers for certain refngera'in* machinery at the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company's works, the Managing Director, Mr J. C. Cooper, states that r.o tender has yet been let. Mr Cooper, also, infora s us that toe refrigerating, machine, will ba capable of freezing thra? sh-ep daily. , The pararaaph in question was takr.n frnra the columns of the Hastings "Standard." A larce leather buggy cushion has ■ been lose on the Btdefuiu road. Finder is requested to Teturn to Mr J. P. Penny. Sulphur Wells, or to leave.it at the Age An advertiser requires as working partner a respectable man with £SO "capital to buy share in plant earning j go:>d profits. Fullest particulars supplied to bona fide inquiries. The annual, meeting of St. Matthew's parishioners .will be,held in the Sunday Scliaoiroom on Tuesday, 26th inst/'Tho business'-is to receive report ar-1 b:;Sunee she'ef, elect auditors. vesLiy. and churchwardens. ' Mr V; Pau.linj?', tailor, Queen Street, announces the arrival of a new c-.i pigntnent of seasonable', ponds. Tii'" new lines include the roost !ir>l:o-cl2te unci fashionable materials, and town and'■country pat- • ions afj invited to call and ijjspsct. Messrs J. A. J. Maclean and Co., sell to-day on the premises, Bunny street, household furniture a/d effect on account of Mrs C.. JPaytbri, who is leaving ths district. There will be no' reserve. At Mr Milligaifs..• emporium, Kel» burne Avenue, Wellington, an auturn «how of British suitings is being -held. Mr Milligan,. when recently in London, arranged ..for £2,000 worth -of suitings of advanced fashions, and these are now to hand. , A delicious sweetmeat hardly gufficies to describe the nut ,milk chocolate now bsing offered at a very special reduced figure by Graham and Co. It is a tempting delicacy at a most tempting price, three ninepenny cakes or 2s 3d worth for the humble shilling. This offer, judging from the enormous sales being made, may be withdrawn any day.